[mythtv-users] FE/BE combo system locking-up

[James Linder]

> On 16 Dec 2021, at 12:23 pm, Stephen Worthington <stephen_agent at jsw.gen.nz> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 15 Dec 2021 12:30:43 -0700, you wrote:
> 
>> On 12/14/21 1:34 AM, Stephen Worthington wrote:
>>> 
>>> This one - dust certainly can cause this, and if you are not at least
>>> annually getting rid of it, it will cause problems.

> 
> "Vacuumed" - do you really use an ordinary household vacuum for
> cleaning electronics?  That is a really bad idea!  Most vacuums create
> huge static electrical charges - they are actively dangerous to
> electronics.  There are special non-static electronics safe vacuums
> that you can buy, usually from commercial electronic component
> suppliers.  But they are massively expensive.
> 
> The voltage
> differential to the silicon in the chip causes movement of atoms and
> molecules and changes the characteristics of the junctions in the
> chip.  Immediate failure can result, but it is more normal to get
> degradation that fails later in life.  And if the nozzle came close
> enough so there was an actual static discharge, even more damage is
> likely.

When I worked for HP they did a big survery of static on various chips including ‘harmless’ chips like TTL.
They found it had a significant effect on lifetime, So eg a harmless TTL chip exposed had a statisticaly significantly life time effect.
Bottom line in 1: Static WILL damage your electronics.
James